Saturday, May 12, 2007

Games For May

On May 12 1967, Pink Floyd gave a 'musical and visual exploration' at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, billed as 'Games For May'. Described as a 'space age relaxation for the climax of spring - electronic composition, colour and image projection, girls and the Pink Floyd', the performance featured some of the band's early singles, material from the forthcoming debut album (The Piper at the Gates of Dawn), Jugband Blues (not to be released until after Syd had left the band, on the second LP A Saucerful of Secrets), and a song written especially for the event that became the band's second single, See Emily Play. The show was introduced with a tape recording of bird songs and other natural sound effects compiled by Roger Waters (and later to be used in Cirrus Minor and Grantchester Meadows). During the concert, band members created other sound effects by chopping wood, a man dressed in an admiral's uniform gave out daffodils, and soap bubbles floated through the air (staining the furniture in the hall, and leading to a ban on PF playing there again). The sound was augmented with a primitive 'surround' mixer, which connected a joystick to an organ and other sound effects that were moved in all directions around the hall. It also featured a very sophisticated light show. Nick Mason has said, "I think Games for May was one of the most significant shows we ever performed." The complete setlist was: Dawn (tape recording), Matilda Mother, Flaming, Scarecrow, Jugband Blues, Games for May, Bike, Arnold Layne, Let's Roll Another One (Candy and a Currant Bun), Pow R. Toc H., Interstellar Overdrive, Bubbles (tape recording by Rick Wright), Ending (tape recording by Syd Barrett); Encore: Lucifer Sam.(In memory of R.K.B. "Float on a river for ever and ever...")